Blast Inside Odisha School Leaves Two Students Critical; probe ordered

Ganjam: At least two students sustained critical injuries following a ‘mysterious’ explosion inside Magura UP school in Aska of Ganjam district on Saturday. The incident occurred at around 10 AM when all the students of the school were reportedly going to have their mid-day meal.

The two injured students were first admitted to Aska hospital and later shifted to MKCG Hospital in Berhampur after their condition deteriorated.

School and Mass Education Minister Samir Dash has directed the District Education Officer (DEO) to conduct a probe & submit report within a week.

"I have asked Ganjam DEO to conduct a fact finding into the incident. Since several school buildings lack safety measures, we will ensure that infrastructure is built so that such incidents do not happen in future," said Dash.

Clarifying on the incident, Aska SDPO Suryamani Pradhan refused about the explosion of a bomb and said that instead a detonator had exploded which left the students injured.

"From preliminary investigation, I suspect the students had found the detonator from somewhere and were experimenting with it when it suddenly exploded. We will interrogate the students to find out exactly where did they find the detonating device," said the SDPO.